Challenge Poverty Week Blog – Day 2
During Challenge Poverty Week we will be blogging each day to shine a spotlight on the work WCHG’s Financial Inclusion Officers do to challenge poverty.
These are the typical things that the team advise on to help tenants facing difficult financial times.
Tuesday
First thing today I look at my new referrals. I always contact people as soon as I can to offer advice and assistance – usually within a day or two. One referral is for a tenant who needs help to claim Personal Independence Payment, a benefit for people with long term disabilities or ill health. He has lost his job after having been off sick from work following a stroke.
He hasn’t recovered as much as he hoped and still has mobility and care needs and is also now being treated for depression. I give him a call and explain how the claim process works and what information he will need to provide. To complete the form, he will need to get together information about all his medication and the names and addresses of all the medical people he is seen by – consultants, physiotherapists, occupational therapist etc.
It’s useful to keep a diary noting all the things he struggles with and what things he can only manage with help. As the stroke has affected his right side and he struggles to write and we agree an office appointment for the following week where I can help him complete the form.
Janet Wilcox Kean
Financial Inclusion Officer
